The Etiquette and Tradition of Flowers
Flowers do so much for the atmosphere
at a wedding that it is important to give some thought to
your floral arrangements on the day.
Flowers not only add softness and brightness to the day,
they also act as an important element in the overall design
or theme of the wedding. Moreover, each flower has a symbolic
meaning which can help the couple to express their feelings
for each other.
Traditionally, and even today, the Groom is expected to
pay for the flowers in the church and for the wedding party
and the bride's parents pay for the flowers at the reception
venue.
The men in the wedding party should be given buttonholes,
bridesmaids require a bouquet and the respective mothers
receive a corsage.
Remember that some churches and other wedding
venues hold more than one wedding ceremony per day, particularly
in the busy periods of Spring and Summer. If that's the
case in your wedding venue think about contacting the people
getting married before and/or after you and sharing the
cost of the floral decorations.
In any event, you should make a discussion with the officiant
the first thing you do. Not every venue is happy to have
flowers brought in and some insist of providing flowers
themselves. Find out at the very beginning what the policy
of your chosen venue is.
If it's a church wedding you may very well
find that the people at the church will be happy to help
you arrange the flowers and provide advice on where and
how to arrange them, all free of charge. This should be
considered when thinking about making a donation to the
church.
Bear in mind, however, that a wedding venue may not have
time during busy periods to change floral arrangements for
each couple and may require all the weddings that day to
use the same displays. In that case the cost will be divided
among the couples.
Although reception venues don't have more
than one reception per day you may find that some venues
include the cost of floral arrangements in their service.
In that case you should make sure that the flower theme
at the reception matches the rest of the day. Alternatively,
ask them for a quote without flowers and use your own florist
to decorate the reception venue, too.
For those venues which allow you to use your own florist
to decorate, you should arrange a time with the manager
for the decorations to be put in place. Ask the florist
to double check with the management a couple of days before
that the venue will be accessible on the morning of the
wedding.
There are few hard and fast rules about floral decorations
at the reception venue but generally there is a large arrangement
on the top table and smaller arrangements on each of the
guests' tables. There is usually also a large arrangement
at the point where the reception line up is to take place
at the point where the guests enter the reception venue.
Ask the florist to visit your reception venue with you if
possible and ask their advice on how to decorate the rooms.
Smaller rooms are generally quite easy to do but large rooms,
hall or marquees take a bit more planning and thought. Since
those rooms have a lot of space it can be expensive to decorate
suitable them with floral arrangements, so consider using
flowering plants and shrubs. Potted shrubs in season can
be a very effective way to decorate the large spaces and
can be planted in your garden afterwards. Flowering pot
plants, too can be an ideal way to decorate a large space
cost effectively and, like the shrubs, can be used to decorate
your new home as a daily reminder of your wedding day. This
is particularly lovely if these plants are in flower on
your wedding anniversary.
Unless you are having a very simple wedding
or you have a friend or relative who genuinely knows what
they are doing, it is generally advisable to use a professional
florist. Not only will they will co-ordinate the flower
arrangements at all stages of the day they will also be
able to advise which flowers are in season, and therefore
less expensive, as well as being able to advise you on the
symbolism behind your choice of flowers.
Finding a florist is usually one of the easier elements
in organising the wedding. It makes sense to ask first at
the wedding and reception venues, since they have weddings
daily and will have seen the work of just about all the
local florists. If you can't decide between a couple of
florists ask if you can go along to see their work on the
morning of a wedding. A good florist will usually be happy
to oblige.
Choose your florist well before the wedding
since good florists are usully booked months in advance.
The exact choice of flowers and colours can wait until 1-2
months before and should only be made once the colours of
the wedding have been chosen.
When choosing the bouquet, keep in mind the
two essential features; colour and form.
The colours and type of flower for the bride's bouquet should
ideally be chosen to match her natural colouring and personality.
The base colour for the bouquet is traditionally white,
to symbolise purity but the proper use of one or two elements
of colour can really bring the boquet alive. Bear in mind
the colour of the bridesmaids dresses and the overall colour
scheme of the wedding, too when ordering the bouquet.
The form of the bouquet can either be long and trailing
or compact and bunched. The bride's body shape and style
of dress should be major factors in deciding which type
of bouquet to go for. Again, a good florist will probably
be able to advise. Take a picture of the style of dress
and, if possible, a bit of the material to the florist who
should then be able to form a picture of which style would
work best with that particular bride.
After the wedding it can be a nice idea to
take a cutting from some of the stems of the bouquet and
to grow plants for the house or garden which can grow along
with the marriage.
Bridesmaids' bouquets The bridesmaids usually
carry smaller and much less detailed boquets. The colour
and form should compliment the bride's if possible, but
should certainly match their dresses
The male members of the wedding party wear Buttonholes,
which are usually a small heather arrangement bound with
a tartan bow or similar.
The mothers of the bride and groom respectively wear Corsages,
which are similar in idea to buttonholes but much larger
and more detailed.
